Modern Furniture 101

As the name suggests, ‘Modern Furniture’ is furniture of our times that is comfortable, affordable, and stylish to match modern tastes and perspectives. Technically speaking, the phrase Modern Furniture refers to furniture from the latter half of the 20th century and on into contemporary styles of today. A microscopic view of this kind of furniture reveals that designers more often than not use the phrase for furnishings manufactured in the 50s and 60s in post world war II America, and to a lesser extent in Europe. This type of furniture is quite experimental in nature; use of curvilinear shapes, integrated modular elements and understated monochromatic color schemes is common and is very different from the more traditional rounds, squares and rectangles.

When you decide on redecorating the house with modern furniture, some key things need to be kept in mind:

• Have a game-plan ready before you even set foot inside a home furnishings store.

• Measurements of rooms and photographs help a lot in visualizing the furniture in its final destination while shopping. Having wall paint samples and carpet may be helpful if you are looking at changing only the furniture.

• Each element in the room has to be treated almost like a sculpture with an almost ‘museum like’ look. You can experiment with highlighting art by placing sculptures on columns or pedestals. Uncluttered furniture arrangement which forms the framework for home décor is the underlying objective.

• Bold statements with both furniture and accessories are an apt definition for Modern Furnishing. Ruffles, florals, carved details, traditional shapes are usually a no go.

• Selection of store is also important as furniture stores broadly fall into 4 general categories - Promotional, Medium, High End and Specialty Stores. These stores may provide you with a still wider array of styles like Traditional, Country, Early American, Shaker, Mission, Modern, Art Deco, Retro, etc. It may therefore be a good idea to give the stores a call and ask for their furniture style line-up. Unless you are fixated with the kind of furniture you want, it might be helpful to note that Modern Furniture includes styles like Southwest, Lifestyle, Lacquers, Euro-look, Retro (50's), and Art Deco. So just go ahead and experiment!

• While deciding on fabric, remember that Modern fabrics tend to have lots of design and color-change in their appearance. Here a degree of creativity might help in visualizing the complete set.

• Modern accent tables may use a variety of material like metal, glass, stonework as well as wood. Choose well in order to have a synchronous furnished outcome.

• Where lamps and accessories are concerned, remember that fine lines are a hallmark of modern look. A gaudy or heavy look is certainly not modern.

• Mostly Modern Styles use geometric lines and well-matched colors to add an air of neatness to the whole look and feel of the room. For additional impact make sure the room(s) have lots of natural light and plenty of space. Cove lighting and washing walls with light are other options to be explored.

And lastly, do remember you’re the person who has to live with what you decide upon now. Have fun shopping!